The future of the German Grand Prix has been put in to more doubt after Bernie Ecclestone ended negotiations with the Nurburgring circuit.

The race has been in doubt since the 2013 calendar was announced as the Nurburging - scheduled to host the race this year after it was held at Hockenheim in 2012 - has run in to financial difficulties. Earlier this month Ecclestone said: "The trouble is that the people that used to be there have gone. They haven't got enough money. So we will see."

Now, however, it appears that negotiations have come to an end, with Ecclestone quoted as telling Der Spiegel that a deal couldn't be agreed.

"Following a detailed examination of the (Nurburgring's) proposal, we do not accept it as financially feasible and therefore end the negotiations," he said.

If the German Grand Prix does not go ahead then it is likely that there will only be 18 races this year, with no race announced for the vacant European slot on July 21.

The International Rugby Board (IRB) have stripped Australia of the right to host a round of the World Sevens Series, scheduled for Brisbane on 16-17 February, after the Australian government's refusal to provide visas for the squad from Fiji